Richard Washington

Off in a corner, obscured from view by the European excitement over a single currency and transparent borders, stands a hard little nut, the divided island of Cyprus. Not even Richard Holbrooke, Washington's No. 1 steamroller, has been able to crack it. A head-on approach never will. The salvation of Cyprus, populated by a Greek Cypriot majority and a Turkish minority, lies in the mother capitals, Athens and Ankara. That's where pressure should be applied.

With family members at his bedside at Long Beach Community Hospital, Richard Washington vowed that he will return next fall to play football at the University of Washington. Washington, 18, was one of eight people injured Sept. 20 when their rented van collided head-on with a car traveling the wrong way on Interstate 5 near Medford, Ore. Seven of the injured, including Washington, are redshirt freshmen on the Washington team.

Re "America's broadband blues," July 23 Harold Feld fails to deliver much analytic value. Instead of attacking my New York Times opinion piece as Pollyanna advocacy because he doesn't approve of the facts, Feld should digest the impact that changing circumstances have on Internet policy. Independent research finds that broadband is now available to more than 99% of U.S. homes, and the speed of U.S. broadband networks is improving rapidly: While they were 22nd worldwide in 2009, they're now 8th and rising.

This being the morning after the night the Final Four became the Big One, the sporting world is busy saluting a new college coaching genius. His name, this year, is Denny Crum. This is the way it should be. A guy's got to be a genius to put together a team, keep the players from jumping school or flunking class, dodge the NCAA snoops, keep the philanthropic alumni in check and survive the 500-team NCAA tournament draw, or whatever number it's up to these days.

The decision may have been tough, fraught with doubts and second thoughts, but in the end Baron Davis did precisely as expected, announcing Wednesday that he will declare himself eligible for the NBA draft. The UCLA sophomore will forgo his final two college seasons--becoming only the fourth Bruin to leave early for the pros--in anticipation of being a lottery pick next month. "The NBA is there . . . it's calling," Davis said. "It's just something I've dreamed about all my life."

Kelly Tripucka, the forgotten member of the Utah Jazz, made his first start of the season last Saturday against the Lakers and scored 21 points, including all five of his three-point attempts. Tripucka, whose woes were detailed in a front-page story in the (Salt Lake City) Deseret News, reportedly was inserted into the starting lineup only after a pregame meeting among owner Larry Miller, General Manager David Checketts and Coach Frank Layden.

Third baseman Jason Giambi of Cal State Long Beach has been selected to play for the United States in the Pan Am Games scheduled Aug. 11 to 17 in Havana, Cuba. Giambi, an all-conference and all-College World Series choice, led the Big West Conference in hitting with a batting average of .417. He will be a junior next year.

1962 at Louisville, Ky. Cincinnati 72, UCLA 70 Wake Forest 82, UCLA 80 John Wooden finally reaches the Final Four in his 14th season (good thing he didn't have to follow John Wooden). This team, with future coaches Walt Hazzard and Gary Cunningham in the lineup, suffers a pair of close defeats. * 1964 at Kansas City, Mo.